The Motor Traffic and Trasport Directorate (MTTD) at Madina has disclosed that about 90 people have been arrested and fined for failing to use the Madina-Adentan footbridge.
Station Officer at the unit, Chief Inspector Kwame Dosu, said the move was to serve as a deterrent to others who intend to get to the other side without using the bridge.
“The footbridge is constructed and we are making all efforts for the pedestrians to use it. Sometime ago, we even arrested about 90 and they were all put before the Madina Magistrate court and they were fined,” he told Kojo Yankson on the Super Morning Show.
The Madina-Adentan footbridge was completed after agitation from pedestrians and residents on the need for one, as a way to cut down on the number of persons who die from crossing the highway.
The agitations were sparked again after 22-year-old Mariam, a student of West Africa Senior High School at Adentan lost her life in an attempt to cross the road.
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She was killed by a speeding taxi while crossing the highway infront of her school.
Her death sparked spontaneous riots by residents living along the highway.
Subsequently, the government completed the bridge to facilitate pedestrian usage, however, the police say residents still refuse to use the road.
“At times we will be chasing them, when we ask them to use the bridge, they will respond by saying the footbridge is too long.
“They cannot use it. When they use it, they take more than 40 minutes before they are able to walk over the bridge,” he added.
He, however, said the MTTD has deployed some strategies to curb the situation.
“It is not our mandate to be canning people to use the footbridge but when you pursue them, force them, educate them, to use the footbridge and they refuse, we are compelled to sometimes use canes on them which is not the best.
“At times the light will be green, vehicles will be running through the traffic light and you see pedestrians also walking through the vehicles and its causing a lot of danger to their lives,” he added.
He further assured that the unit will continue to educate commuters on the need to use the bridge.